剑桥词典2024年度词汇是manifest。这个manifest 今年特别火，在剑桥词典网站上被查询了超过13万次，也频频出现在主流媒体上。
manifest是一个英语六级、专四词汇，作为动词时表示“表明，显现出”，作形容词时意思为“明显的；显而易见的”。
剑桥词典在公布年度词汇manifest时，给出的一种新的英文解释为： to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen。
不过，剑桥词典网页版给出的解释更具体：to use methods such as visualization (= picturing something in your mind) and affirmation (= repeating positive phrases) to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen。
意思是利用可视化（visualization，即脑海中描绘某些事情）及自我肯定（affirmation，即重复积极正面语句）等方法，相信这样做会更有可能实现所想。
曾泰元教授这样解释manifest：将目标可视化（在心中显示出来），用言语自我激励（我能行，我可以的），想象着达成目标，相信这样做，目标更容易实现。
这就是近些年社交媒体上流行的「显化」说法。
CNN在报道剑桥词典2024年度词汇时表示，Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year 2024 is all about thinking positive，嗯，manifest一切都和“积极思考/正向思考/积极想象？）”有关。
剑桥大学社会心理学教授 Sander van der Linden 表示，疫--情期间，有关“显化”方法的帖文在社交媒体大受欢迎，其中包括流行的「3-6-9」方法，即早上写下自己的愿望3次，下午写下6次，睡前写下9次，但这个方法只会促成强迫行为，对“显化”没有实际帮助，但当社会名人不断在社交平台鼓吹如何“显化”成功，亦难怪人们会跟着做。
单词 manifest 的流行和明星、运动员和网红的助推不无关系，例如，歌手 杜阿·利帕（Dua Lipa）、奥运短跑运动员加比·托马斯（Gabby Thomas）和英格兰前锋奥利·沃特金斯（Ollie Watkins）等名人在2024年都谈及通过 manifesting实现自己的成功。
TikTok上有很多关于Manifesting 的视频，用户在进行“显化”（manifestation），即给自己设定一个目标，想象它已经实现，或把它写在日记里。（ creating what's known as a "manifestation," where you set yourself a goal and either visualise having achieved it or write it down in a journal.）
例如，如果你想成为一名流行歌手，你会想象自己在英国温布利体育馆唱歌，或者你会写下“我是一位著名的流行歌手”，而不是简单想想“有一天我想成为一名流行歌手”。（For example, if you wanted to be a pop singer, you'd visualise yourself singing at Wembley Arena or you'd write down "I am a famous pop singer" rather than simply thinking "one day I would like to be a pop singer."）
此方法来自19世纪美国的新思维运动，这个运动强调精神治疗和形而上学。（It comes from New Thought philosophy, a 19th century spiritual movement from the United States that put an emphasis on spiritual healing and metaphysics.）
吸引力法则是指，积极或消极的想法可以给一个人的生活带来积极或消极的现实，这是“显化”的核心，信徒们认为他们可以通过正确的步骤将愿望变成现实。（The philosophy's Law of Attraction theory - that positive or negative thoughts can bring positive or negative realities into a person's life - lies at the heart of manifesting, where believers are certain they can create their own realities with the right process. ）
加布里埃尔•厄廷根（Gabriele Oettingen）是一位学者和心理学家，她的职业生涯都在研究积极思考。她在研究中发现，积极思考能带来短期的好处，但从长远来看却是有害的。（Gabriele Oettingen, an academic and psychologist who has spent her career researching positive thinking, found in her research that it can offer short term benefits but actually be harmful in the long term.）
加布里埃尔称，我们需要认真对待这些积极的白日梦和想象。她认为，人们无法消除积极思考，因为“想象是我们表达需求的方式”，这些需求是我们缺少的东西。（"These positive daydreams and fantasies, they need to be taken seriously," says Gabriele. "We can't eradicate positive thinking because fantasies are an expression of our needs – meaning that of which we are lacking."）
除了“manifest”, 剑桥词典今年还有brat， demure 和Goldilocks 三个候选词。
其中, brat是柯林斯词典2024年度词汇，这个字由英国歌手酷娃恰莉（Charli XCX）重新诠释，并被美国总统候选人哈里斯（Kamala Harris）支持者采用。brat原是酷娃恰莉第6张热门专辑名称，如今，brat不仅指称调皮捣蛋的小孩，还代表一种“自信、独立和享乐主义的态度”。
demure 被TikTok上网红Jools Lebron 一句形容自己上班穿着的“Very Demure, very mindful！”带得火遍全网，这个热梗中demure有“有品味、自信、有分寸感”等多重意思，“端庄低调且不跟风”。
我们看BBC关于剑桥词典2024年度词汇的报道：
外刊原文
'Manifest': Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year
The Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year has been revealed as "manifest", after a global wellness trend endorsed by celebrities including singer Dua Lipa.
The traditional definition included the adjective "easily noticed or obvious" and the noun "to show something clearly through signs or actions".
It now includes “to manifest" in the sense of "to imagine achieving something you want, in the belief doing so will make it more likely to happen".
But social psychology professor Dr Sander van der Linden, from the University of Cambridge, warned that "manifesting wealth, love, and power has no scientific basis and can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment".
（参考译文：剑桥大学社会心理学教授Sander van der Linden认为，“显化”这种凭想法实现梦想的行为属“伪科学”，背后没有实质科学证据支持。）
Other celebrities who spoke of manifesting their success in 2024 included US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and England striker Ollie Watkins.
Wendalyn Nichols, publishing manager of the Cambridge Dictionary, said: "Manifest won this year because it increased notably in look-ups, its use widened greatly across all types of media due to events in 2024, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time."
（参考译文：《剑桥词典》出版经理温达琳·尼科尔斯（Wendalyn Nichols）表示，manifest成为今年年度词汇，因为查询量显著增加，其在各类媒体中广泛使用，并展示了一个词的含义如何随时间变化。"）
She said there were three considerations before announcing the word of the year: "What word was looked up the most, or spiked? Which one really captures what was happening in that year? And what is interesting about this word from a language point of view?"
（参考译文：她解释了剑桥词典年度词汇入选的三大考量：“哪个词被查询最多，或者查询激增？哪个词真正捕捉了那一年发生的事？从语言角度看，这个词有什么有趣之处？”）
Demure, brat and Goldilocks
Dr van der Linden added: "Manifesting is what psychologists call ‘magical thinking’ or the general illusion that specific mental rituals can change the world around us."
（参考译文：Linden）"manifest”本质上是心理学所谓的“魔法思维”，或者说是一种普遍的错觉，认为特定的例行心理习惯可以改变我们周围的世界。）
He said the idea gained "billions of views" on TikTok during the Covid-19 pandemic. （这一概念在疫--情期间的社交媒体平台TikTok上获得了数十亿次浏览。）
“There is good research on the value of positive thinking, self-affirmation, and goal-setting," he said.
"Believing in yourself, bringing a positive attitude, setting realistic goals, and putting in the effort pays off because people are enacting change in the real world.
"However, it is crucial to understand the difference between the power of positive thinking and moving reality with your mind – the former is healthy, whereas the latter is pseudoscience.”
（他表示，关于积极思考、自我肯定和设定目标的价值，在学术上有很多研究支持。相信自己、保持积极态度、设定实际目标并付诸努力，的确能带来真实的改变。关键在于区分积极思考与用意念改变现实——前者有益，后者则是伪科学。）
Other popular terms searched in the dictionary in 2024 included:
Brat - A child, especially one who behaves badly. The word went viral thanks to pop artist Charli XCX's album of the same name, about non-conformist women
Demure - Quiet or well-behaved. Influencer Jools Lebron's satirical use of the word on TikTok mocking stereotypical femininity drove look-ups
Goldilocks - To describe a situation that is exactly right. Financial reporters characterised India’s strong growth and moderate inflation as a Goldilocks economy in early 2024.
The dictionary is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, part of the University of Cambridge.
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